Heavily soiled wares can require multiple cleaning steps to remove the soils from the surfaces of the wares. Pots and pans used for prepping, cooking, and baking ware in full service restaurants can be particularly difficult to clean in a dishmachine due to the caramelized soil baked on to the surface of the ware. Some full service restaurants have attempted to overcome this issue by using, as a pre-step to washing the pots and pans in the dishmachine, a 3-compartment sink for soaking the pots and pans. Exemplary soaking solutions include water, pot and pan detergent solutions, or silverware presoaks. Components of these compositions typically include metal protectors, surfactants, alkalinity sources and the like.
Surfactants are the single most important cleaning ingredient in cleaning products. Environmental regulations, consumer habits, and consumer practices have forced new developments in the surfactant industry to produce lower-cost, higher-performing, and environmentally friendly products.
For example Alkyl phenyl sulfonates, surfactants derived from tetrapropylene that have very complex branching structures (e.g., 3 or 4 branches per molecule), were prominent until the early 1960s when they were subjected to environmental regulations for being poorly biodegradable. Alkylphenyl sulfonate surfactants were then replaced with the readily biodegradable linear alkylphenyl sulfonate (LAS) surfactants, which are easily obtainable and currently in use today.
The materials used to produce LAS surfactants are derived from non-renewable resources, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal. A renewable resource is produced by a natural process at a rate comparable to its rate of consumption (e.g., within a 100 year time frame). In contrast, natural resources such as crude oil, (or petroleum which refers to crude oil and its components of paraffinic, cycloparaffinic, and aromatic hydrocarbons), natural gas, coal, and peat, all take longer than 100 years to form, and are examples of non-renewable resources. Crude oil may be obtained from tar sands, bitumen fields, and oil shale.
Another frequent component in detergents and soaking compositions include metal protecting polymers such as Acrylic acid or acrylate. Acrylic acid is also commonly made from petroleum sources. For example, acrylic acid has long been prepared by catalytic oxidation of propylene. These and other methods of making acrylic acid from petroleum sources are described in the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 1, pgs. 342-369 (5th Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004). Petroleum-based acrylic acid contributes to greenhouse emissions due to its high petroleum derived carbon content.
Thus, the price and availability of the petroleum, natural gas, and coal feedstock ultimately have a significant impact on the price of many surfactants and other components commonly used in detergents. As the worldwide price of petroleum, natural gas, and/or coal escalates, so does the price of surfactants and other compositions useful in detergents. Furthermore, these resources have finite limitations for the future as they are not replenished. Some reports indicate crude oil reserves are less than 100 years, or even less than 30 years. Thus, alternatives are needed that are renewably sourced but at reasonable economics and processed in a way that uses less energy to prepare.
As used herein, “biobased content” refers to the amount of bio-carbon in a material as a percent of the weight (mass) of the total organic carbon in the product. For example, ethylene contains two carbon atoms. If ethylene is derived from a renewable resource, it has a biobased content of 100% because all of the carbon atoms are derived from a renewable resource. As used herein, a “renewable” compound or material is one that is partially or wholly derived from a renewable resource. In a partially renewable compound or material, at least one, but not all of its carbon atoms is derived from a renewable resource. In a wholly renewable compound or material, all of its carbon atoms are derived from a renewable resource.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a solid pot and pan pre-soaking composition that is at least 58% or greater bio-based content.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a pot and pan pre-soak composition that is safe, environmentally friendly and economically feasible.
Other objects, aspects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims.